FACILITATION POTENTIAL OF THE MNEMONICS FOR THE TEACHING OF JAPANESE VOCABULARY TO TURKISH SPEAKERS
FACILITATION POTENTIAL OF THE MNEMONICS FOR THE TEACHING OF JAPANESE VOCABULARY TO TURKISH SPEAKERS

Summary/Abstract: Systematic use of memory techniques holds an important place in foreign language vocabulary learning/teaching. Mnemonics are the efficient products of this strategy. One of the key aspects of producing these memory aids involves the analysis of the patterns. This study aims to analyze patterns in the mnemonics sample presented by the researchers that conduct the study aiming to facilitate the Japanese vocabulary learning of Turkish students. Most of the 68 target words were selected randomly from a Japanese-Turkish dictionary. Fifty-four Turkish students taking Japanese as an elective were asked to mark plus or minus regarding the potantial recall effect of each mnemonic. Following the analysis of the results, a focus group was constituted of 10 participants, both those with partially negative opinions and those with predominantly positive opinions. In order to provide depth, they were asked to elaborate and explain their opinions. To explain the nature of mnemonics, the contemporary metaphor theory and relevant literature on creative uses of language were also referred to. The researchers’ assumption is that majority of the mnemonics samples can facilitate the Turkish students’ recall of the Japanese vocabulary through creative and pragmatic connections created out of acooustic similarity and semantic relations. Imaginative word plays contribute to the depth of processing the target language and humor motivates the learner. Use of English alongside the first language in the mnemonics has implications for the potential benefit of the most popular foreign language for the learning of other foreign languages.

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